Herschbach is a state-recognized “air” health resort (''Luftkurort'') in the

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein-Lahn, the district-free ...

and the biggest ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhineland- ...

'' – in the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Selters, in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

Location

Herschbach is found in the Dierdorf Hollow, which is itself nestled in the hilly low mountain region of the lower

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

halfway between

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. The municipal area is home to three conservation areas (''Naturschutzgebiete'') as well as an 800-ha community

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. Right nearby is the Westerwald Lake Plateau on which rises the Holzbach, which also flows through the municipal area.

Neighbouring communities

Bordering on the community are, clockwise beginning in the north,

Mündersbach Mündersbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The community lies between Hachenburg and Herschbach. The residential community of Mü ...

(3 km), Schenkelberg (3 km), Hartenfels (3 km), Rückeroth (1 km), Marienrachdorf (3 km) and Freirachdorf (2 km). The nearest towns are

Selters Selters is a German brand of natural mineral water sourced from wells in the area of Selters in Hesse, at the Taunus mountains. The water has been known since the Bronze Age and famous as a natural soda water because of its high concentration of ...

(6 km to the south),

Dierdorf Dierdorf is a town in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Westerwald, approx. 20 km northeast of Neuwied, and 20 km north of Koblenz. Dierdorf is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("colle ...

(7 km to the west) and

Hachenburg Hachenburg is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The town lies in the Westerwald between Koblenz and Siegen, roughly 10 km west of Bad Marienberg on the river Nister. Hachenburg is the administrative s ...

(14 km to the north).

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

(35 km to the southwest),

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...

(51 km to the northeast) and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

(60 km to the northwest) are the nearest cities.

History

Written records about Herschbach begin with its first documentary mention in 1248. It can be assumed, however, that the area had already been settled long before that, as a place named ''Hergispach'' crops up in the

Engers Engers is a district of Neuwied on the right banks of the river Rhine in Germany located next to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate. Engers has 5,367 inhabitants. It is highwater-endangered by its direct contact with the river Rhine. City history ...

Chronicle from 963. Moreover, the find of a “west German beaker adorned with band”, a replica of which is exhibited at the Landschaftsmuseum Westerwald in

, bears witness to a human presence in the area some 4,000 years ago. In 1343, Emperor Karl IV granted Herschbach town rights, although these were withdrawn 14 years later. At this time, the

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

settlement consisted of the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(Arx Hergispach, first documentary mention in 1320), which belonged to the Counts of Isenburg. In 1371, Herschbach was conquered by Kuno II of Falkenstein, Archbishop of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. Herschbach was mostly spared the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

’s ravages, but the villages of Überherschbach and Dorfborn, even to the Oberherschbach

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, were destroyed so that their inhabitants would seek and find refuge in the fortified community of Herschbach. Today’s streets, Obertor and Untertor (meaning “Upper Gate” and “Lower Gate”), give some idea of the community's dimensions at that time. The castle within its moat fostered

handicrafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

. An especially important era in Herschbach's economic history is said to be the

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

. When the

Siershahn Siershahn is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History Clay finds from La Tène times have been unearthed here. In 1211, Siershahn had its first do ...

Altenkirchen Altenkirchen () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, capital of the district of Altenkirchen. It is located approximately 40 km east of Bonn and 50 km north of Koblenz. Altenkirchen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("co ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line opened in 1884, it also opened new perspectives on mining the valuable freshwater quartzite (also known as quartzarenitic sandstone, Skršin-type quartzite, Limnic quartzite, or by its

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

name, Süßwasserquarzithttp://www.flintsource.net/quart/CZ_skrsin.html FlintSource.NET, Skršin-type Quartzite), since there was favourable transport at hand. With the opening of the ''Kleinbahn Selters–Hachenburg'', a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard-gauge railway, standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum r ...

whose head office was in Herschbach, began the planned mining in Herschbach's, Rückeroth’s, Freirachdorf’s and Marienrachdorf’s municipal areas in 1900. With the further upswing in the

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

industry’s development, “Herschbach quartzite” became one of the most sought-after

raw materials A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...

for this industry in need of fireproof materials. Quartzite mining was for many years the community's main livelihood. In 1939, 625 workers from Herschbach and the neighbouring communities were employed at the

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

. In the 1950s, quartzite mining was shut down because the waning yields from the quartzite lode made recovery economically unjustifiable. What is left over from the “quartzite boom” is a far-reaching change in the look of the local landscape due to tailing heaps, some of which are today overgrown with low forest. Many abandoned pits are used as fishponds. Unusable land, decayed loading ramps and impassable lands still recall the Herschbach Quartzite Basin. The closure also had great consequences for the narrow-gauge railway, whose tracks were torn up by 1960. After quartzite mining ended, the community administration set about getting other industries to locate in the community, at which they had success.

Deutz AG Deutz AG is a German internal combustion engine manufacturer, based in Porz, Cologne, Germany. History The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 31 ...

, for instance, opened a parts factory in Herschbach. In the course of municipal restructuring, Herschbach and 20 other communities joined in 1972 into the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Selters.Aus der Geschichte: http://hometown.aol.de/ddff2003/infotafel.jpg ,

Population

On 30 June 2007, the population figures showed that there were 2,899 people whose primary residence was in the community, and another 112 who maintained a secondary residence here, for a total of 3,011. Of these, 49.5% were male and 50.5% female. The share of the population represented by foreigners was 8.4%, mostly inhabitants of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

origin. The biggest age group is 40- to 49-year-olds. The greater part of the population belongs to the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populat ...

; 56.3% are

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and 19.4% are

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

. Those without a faith number 12.8%. The rest are mostly

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. As for family relationships, 38.2% are single, 46.8% married, 6.1% widowed and 6.6% divorced.Gemeindestatistik Herschbach

Population development

Population development over the years runs as follows (counting only those with primary residence):Stat. Landesamt http://www.infothek.statistik.rlp.de/lis/MeineRegion/gebieteInfoDetail.aspx?t=4&id=A&key=0714307029&kmaid=1288&zmaid=637&topic=2&subject=20

Politics

Community council

The council is made up of 20 council members, as well as the honorary and presiding mayor (''Ortsbürgermeister''), who were elected in a municipal election on 7 June 2009. ''Seat apportionment on elected council:'' FLH (Freie Liste Herschbach)

Coat of arms

The community's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

show Saint

Lawrence of Rome Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

, who is Herschbach's

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

. He is shown with a grill, on which he was

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d and

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. The arms have a red-silver background.

Town partnerships

* Pleudihen-sur-Rance,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since September 1979 In December 1978, a delegation from Pleudihen-sur-Rance visited the community of Herschbach. In May 1979, this was reciprocated by a delegation from Herschbach to Pleudihen-sur-Rance to seal the partnership. In September 1979, the official partnership celebration was held in Herschbach. In an extraordinary council session, the partnership documents were signed by the then mayors Dr. E. Playoust and Franz Beuler. In 1981, under Günter Beuler's and Ulrike Pfeifer's supervision, the first student and youth exchanges took place. These have been held yearly since then. On 25 January 2001, 25 friends of the partnership met to form a club. The club supports the community's partnership board and introduces new ideas to overcome people's skepticism over the partnership between the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

community of Pleudihen-sur-Rance and Herschbach. The youth work, however, is the club's uppermost priority, for “Youth is the guarantor for the partnership’s continuance and thereby also for peace in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

,” as the former club chairman once said. Jubilees are celebrated in each community every five years, once in Pleudihen, and then a year later in Herschbach.Partnerschaft Herschbach-Pleudihen http://www.herschbach-pleudihen.de

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

;Convent The Marienheim

Convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

was built on the foundations of the moated castle Arx Hergispach. In 1903 the first Dernbach sisters moved in. Today it houses a home for the aged for sisters of the Order of the Poor Serving Maids of Jesus Christ. In 1995, the Marienheim Convent celebrated its 100th anniversary. ;St. Anna parish church On the site of the chapel known as ''St. Anna'' since 1486 and so consecrated in 1664, court master builder Johannes Seiz built today's

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

parish church between 1765 and 1768, which was consecrated by Archbishop and

Elector of Trier The elector of Trier was one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and, in his capacity as archbishop, administered the archdiocese of Trier. The territories of the electorate and the archdiocese were not, however, equivalent. History ...

Clemens Wenzeslaus von Sachsen Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony (German language, German: ''Clemens Wenzeslaus August Hubertus Franz Xaver von Sachsen'') (28 September 1739 – 27 July 1812) was a Saxon prince from the House of Wettin and the Archbishopric of Trier, Archbis ...

. Johann Wilhelm Schöler built his great

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

works in 1773 and 1774 for the Herschbach parish church. The organ looks the same today as it did then. The St. Anna parish church is a protected monument, and along with the historic town hall and the remodelled

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

, forms the heart of Herschbach. ;Evangelical parish house The Evangelical parish of Andreas only had a church built in 1989, as until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was over, Herschbach was almost exclusively Catholic. ;Laurentius-Kapelle As well, there is the Laurentius-Kapelle (chapel) in the

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

at Oberherschbach, which was already mentioned in 1487, but from its early

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

, it may well be about a thousand years old. The Laurentius-Kapelle in Oberherschbach is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

destination. In May, pilgrimages to the Dolorous Mother of God take place. ;Haus Hergispach festival hall The community of Herschbach had this built in the early 1980s. It has a seating capacity of roughly 1,000 and is used for events of all kinds. ;Historic Town Hall Herschbach's

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was formerly an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and was later converted into a town hall. It was renovated in the mid-1990s. It forms, with the parish church and the marketplace, the community's historic heart.

Music

In Herschbach there are a music club, a band, a men's singing club, a singing club and a church

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

who take part in festivals and church services and stage concerts.

Sport and leisure

Herschbach has at its disposal a sporting ground (hard-surface),

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s (hard-surface), an outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, a fitness path, a

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

, a skating rink, a

discotheque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

and also some

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails in the surrounding woods, parts of which belong to the Westerwald

Nordic Walking Nordic walking is a Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles similar to s ...

Park.

Regular events

*Herrensitzung der Närrischen Ritter (Gentlemen's session of the “Clownish Knights”) *Local Carnival (

Shrovetide Shrovetide, also known as the Pre-Lenten Season or Forelent, is the Christian period of preparation before the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Shrovetide starts on Septuagesima Sunday, includes Sexagesima Sunday, Quinquagesima Sunda ...

) *Carnival company's gala session *Carnival company's children's session *Rosenmontagszug (Shrove Monday parade) *Princes’ ball *Möhnensitzung des Möhnenvereins (“Clownish Women’s” session) *Großer Bunter Abend des Spielmannszuges (“Band’s Great Colourful Evening”) *Ball der Schautänze (exhibition dance ball) *Music club's gala concert *Frühjahrsmarkt (“Early-year Market”) *Große Zeltkirmes (“Great Tent Kermis”) *Rot-Weiße Rocknacht (“Red-White Rock Night”) *Parish festival *Autumn market *Martinsfeier *Prinzenproklamation (“Princes’ proclamation”) *Nostalgic Christmas market

Clubs and groups

*Amazonen-Tanzgruppe Herschbach (Amazon Dance Troupe) *Brieftaubenzuchtverein "Auf zum Westerwald" (

carrier pigeon The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distan ...

raising) *Deutsches Rotes Kreuz-Ortsverein Herschbach (

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (german: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within ...

) *Förder- und Freundschaftskreis Herschbach-Pleudihen (Herschbach-Pleudihen promotional and friendship circle) *Freiwillige Feuerwehr Herschbach (volunteer

fire brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

) *Frohe Sänger Westerwald (singing club) *Kaninchenzuchtverein RN 65 Herschbach/Schenkelberg (

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

raising) *Karnevalsgesellschaft 1912 Herschbach e.V. (Carnival company) *Kath. Frauengemeinschaft Deutschlands 1981 Herschbach (Catholic Women's Community of Germany) *Kirchenchor 1881 "Cäcilia" Herschbach (church choir) * Kolpingsfamilie Herschbach *Kur- und Verkehrsverein Herschbach *Männergesangsverein 1904 "Frohsinn" Herschbach e.V. (men's singing club) *Möhnenverein "Fidelio" Herschbach e.V. (“Clownish Women”) *Musikverein Herschbach e.V. (music club) *Närrische Ritter Westerwald e.V. (“Clownish Knights”) *Prinzenstammtisch 1987 (Princes’ regulars table) *Pyramidenschieber Herschbach *Spielgemeinschaft Herschbach/Schenkelberg e.V. (Sportverein 1920 Herschbach) (

sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

) *Spielmannszug Herschbach e.V. (band) *Tanz-Sport-Gemeinschaft Westerwald-Mittelrhein e.V. (

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and sport) *Tennisclub Blau Weiß Herschbach 1978 e.V. *Tischtennisclub Herschbach (

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

) *VDK Ortsgruppe Herschbach

Carnival

A notable highlight in Herschbach's club life is the Herschbach

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

. Even if the Carnival Company (''Karnevalsgesellschaft'', KG) was founded “only” in 1912, stories of earlier carnivals are known.Chronik KG Herschbach The KG and the Möhnenverein (see above) are among the clubs with the highest memberships in Herschbach. In the run-up to

Rosenmontag ( en, Rose Monday) is the highlight of the German (carnival), and takes place on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras, though celebrated on Fat Tuesday, is a similar event. is celebrated in German-speaking ...

(

Shrove Monday Shrove Monday, sometimes known as Collopy Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, is a Christian observance falling on the Monday before Ash Wednesday every year. A part of the English traditional Shrovetide celebrations of the week be ...

), some 7 Carnival events are held (such as the “sessions” mentioned above), each of which draws some 400 to 1,000 visitors to the festival hall. The yearly Rosenmontagszug (

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

) with its more than 2,000 contributors and 15,000 visitors one of the biggest in the region, which has won Herschbach the title of “the” local Carnival stronghold. For all of this, the KG maintains its own float building hall in which the

parade floats A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle like a truck or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival in São Paulo, the Carnival of Viareggio, the M ...

are built. A peculiarity here is the use of home-crafted paper roses used to adorn the floats, thereby doing the Rosenmontagszug literally every honour. On the “princes’ float” in 2006, for instance, 20,000 roses were usedWZ: 20000 Papierrosen für das Prinzenpaar

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Herschbach lies on ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

'' 413 to which it is linked by 3 interchanges. Relatively nearby is ''Bundesstraße'' 8. Herschbach lies near the

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

en A 3 and A 48 between

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are near

Mogendorf Mogendorf is a municipality in Westerwaldkreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...

(12 km) and

(10 km). The mittlerweile verworfene planning for an extension to the A 48 towards Siegen (''Westerwaldautobahn'') would have had the highway running east of the village north–south between Herschbach and Schenkelberg.Keine Westerwaldautobahn - Bereich Maxsain bis Schenkelberg: https://web.archive.org/web/20091027041936/http://de.geocities.com/westerwaldautobahn/strecke2.html ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

'' 292 runs through the community, and ''Landesstraße'' 305 is linked to the community by two interchanges. The nearest

InterCityExpress The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

stop is the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line. Further long-distance railway stations nearby are found in

Neuwied Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...

and Ingelbach.

Education

* Katholische Kindertagesstätte St. Anna (Catholic

daycare Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

) * Catholic public

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

* Herschbach

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Secondary schools are found in

( Gymnasium,

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

) and

(Regionalschule).

Munitions depot

In the 1980s, the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

built a

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

area on ''Bundesstraße'' 8, which was abandoned a short time later. Today, the many bunkers may be rented.

Windfarm

In the summer of 2006, 12

Enercon Enercon GmbH is a wind turbine manufacturer based in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-1990s. Enercon has production facilities in Germany (Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg), Brazil, India, Canada, ...

E-70

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s were put up at the Hartenfelser Kopf Windfarm. These supply roughly 12,500 households and reduce CO₂ emissions by 28,500 metric tons each year. The windfarm is one of the biggest such projects in a forest that has ever been built in the Federal Republic. Two of the wind turbines stand in Herschbach's municipal area.Windenergie-Nutzung an Waldstandorten: http://www.juwi.de/wind/download/WEA_im_Wald.pdf

References

External links

Herschbach
{{Authority control Westerwaldkreis